1975 Buick Regal

Feature Article from Hemmings Classic Car

Nostalgia is the sort of tugging at heartstrings that you'd expect of old men, past their prime with more to look back on than to look forward to. Humorous old cynics will frown and opine that nostalgia ain't what it used to be, yet even the younger generation of up-and-coming driver-owners are susceptible to the pull of yesterday's memories.
Take Dan Seman here. He's 24 and lives in Findlay, Ohio, a place where cars like this Colonnade-era Buick should have been relegated to the scrap heap right around the time he was born, thanks to the salt-laden winter streets. Yet Dan had the fortune to be born into a family where cars were understood and cherished: One grandfather, Ed Winkeljohn, owned a local parts store and had a 1963 Olds, and the other, John Seman, worked for Ford and knew more than his fair share about engines. Dan's dad, Dave, absorbed as much knowledge as he could over the years from both of them--mechanical, body, you name it--and has instilled plenty of that knowledge into his own son.
For years, Dave's ride was a 1975 Buick Regal hardtop coupe: It was painted Sandstone, sported a brown vinyl half-top, and was a family driver. The back seat was plenty big for a trio of young kids, and it was in the background of lots of family photos, like the one seen here. It was Dave's first new car, and Dan recalls that "it was the car that I learned to take care of; helping wash the Buick as a little boy was the beginning of my attachment to it. Later, it remained special because, in later years when my Grandpa John owned it, he would sit me in his lap and let me 'drive' it up the driveway." Powerful memories indeed.
The family ride wasn't perfect, but it was still well looked-after, and Dan was crushed when his dad sold it in 1993, exchanging the big Buick for something with four doors and quarter panels that weren't affected by rust.
Years passed, and cars came and went from the Seman household. Yet memories of the Buick had taken hold deep somewhere within Dan's brain. So when he found a Sandstone 1975 Regal for sale in California in 2004, you can imagine his reaction. Dan sought out a third-party inspector for an unbiased evaluation, liked what he heard, and had the car shipped back to Ohio.
The memories were now squared with a new reality. The four-barrel 350-cu.in. V-8 ran smooth and sure, as it should with just 28,000 miles since new, and the equipment level--power disc brakes, air conditioning, speed alert, chrome rally wheels, power windows, AM/FM stereo, and tilt steering--wants for nothing. No vinyl top here, but that's hardly an issue. The crunched fender was, but not one that was beyond repair.
There were a couple of mechanical issues, too, but considering the age of the car, it wasn't that bad. "Installing the new rear shocks myself was easy; from there, I tackled the cooling system, installing new hoses and a new thermostat. Unfortunately, the transmission cooler was leaking and dumping fluid into the cooling system, so I had to replace the radiator." Brakes and suspension were checked by a local team of certified mechanics, who declared everything safe and solid.
Beyond that, it just took a lot of elbow grease to clean and detail the car to like-1975 condition. "There's always something that needs attention...while this can be frustrating, it's also part of the fun!"
Dan realizes that potential pitfalls followed him every step of the way, and acknowledges that he's been lucky enough not to get trapped in any of them. "The transaction could have been a potential nightmare, but it ended up being an amazing experience. The seller and I have had numerous telephone discussions, and he has been so considerate and helpful. He even called to check on what I thought after the car arrived! It was like he was selling the car to his own son. Working out its cross-country transport was also concerning, but every contact I had was very professional. For a first-time purchase of this nature, it was absolutely positive!"
We should all be so lucky.
The Buick's time on the roads is limited to summertime cruising--"it's rust-free, and I want to keep it that way"--but Dave has already absorbed the accolades of his driving peers. "Everywhere you go, people look because there is nothing else like it on the road. It never fails when I am at a gas station that someone stops and asks me about the car, tells me they like it, or tells me about owning one or a friend owning one. Any frustrations simply come down to uncertainty. All old cars have their own quirks, and the owner has to adjust."
Nostalgia or not, Dan and his Buick need not look behind them any further. Together, they can forge ahead into their respective futures, their best days still to come.

This article originally appeared in the June, 2009 issue of Hemmings Classic Car.